Savior
by Calm77
Summary: Rufus wasn't ungrateful, he'd build his savior a temple if only he'd ask. Now a collection of Rufuscentric drabbles.
1. Chapter 1

Savior

Disclaimer: Hhhhmmmm...lemme think about this now...nope, not mine. Amazing, right?

A/N: Angst is not house broken and must stay outside. You can even bring Tragedy in if you want to, the damn waterworks, but _no Angst. _Going for original here, so just don't get mad, k?

_Savior_.

For a human, it's a horrible title. At least heroes are allowed their quirks, sometimes even some selfishness. Saviors are supposed to be altruistic, above even heroes. Something no one human can measure up to. No one should have to. No one dreams of being a savior.

At least heroes save people from _situations beyond their control._ Heroes run into burning houses to save the baby, rescue the fair maiden from the dragon, pull the injured from a wreck, win the battle. Heroes emerge from the trial unscathed.

Saviors sacrifice things – their limbs, lives, sanity, sometimes even their souls – to save people from Hells _of their own making. _Being a savior is a thankless job, because people are fools who don't learn and never will, who repeat the same mistakes and must be saved again and again. At great cost to _someone else. _

Sure they're thankful. But in the end the words ring hollowly as the same people repeat the same mistakes, confident their _savior_ will keep saving them. Or maybe they just don't think at all. The cycle simply starts anew.

Because the only ones who can truly save them are themselves, and they are no longer able to.

Hence people like Rufus Shinra can call for as many Sephiroths and Jenovas to do their worst. Because he's confident his _savior_ can keep beating them. Nevermind his own negligence was part of the reason the originals rose in the first place, the reason they almost succeeded.

Oh, he's not ungrateful, anything but. The Rufuses of this world are very grateful, ready to grant their savior a temple if only he asks for it. Even if he doesn't, they'll try to give it to him anyway. Then they know he'll keep saving them. They forget their _savior _is _human_ and can only sacrifice so much.

And each sacrifice puts him closer to his end. Because he isn't a God, he's human. And humans can only sacrifice so much before they have nothing left to give.

But Rufus will still try to make his savior a God. Then he'll never have to learn, to change. Never have to acknowledge his faults because he's been saved, those faults are gone. Only God can wipe the slate so completely clean, and oh how he _wants_ it to be clean.

So Rufus will bargain, plead, beg, and threaten – _anything_ to make his savior God. So he can be secure in the knowledge that someone will always be his safety net, always ready to wipe the slate clean again.

Thus the cycle will begin anew, the lessons of past mistakes unlearned. New Sephiroths and Jenovas _will_ rise again, because men like Rufus will not learn, will keep on repeating the mistakes of the past. Will let the lure of power overcome every caution.

And one day the savior will have nothing more to give.

_The End_

Hey, come back here! Review or ...well I haven't figured it out yet, but review! Um, I'll give you cookies?


	2. Safety

_Safety_

Disclaimer: Hey...news flash, its not mine!

A/N: Another Rufus Drabble, hope everyone likes it.

Life isn't the same without it. Society is _based_ on safety, on the ability of society, of the mass of sheep protecting against the wolves. It's the reason law enforcement exists to protect the _many_ who can't defend themselves.

People without safety are afraid, forever wary and on edge. Prone to violence, predisposed to eventual revolt.

But Rufus ShinRa did not believe mere _sheep_ capable of such things. Of such strength. Only the wolves deserved to lead, those who could instill fear within others.

It _proved_ people thought more of him than a mere _spoiled_ _brat_. It meant everyone would know about _his_ ruthlessness, _his_ genius.

His father had certainly done well in the vein he'd chosen. The world was mostly sated, money was plentiful. The _sheep_ were fat and well fed.

Rufus _longed_ for something different, _new._ He had passed days feeling the curious wanderlust, the desire to go somewhere he had never been before, see what he had never seen. To create his own reality.

So he planned, waited for the day he could instill fear within the masses. He'd been _thankful_ when Sephiroth had killed his father, he'd been thankful when AVALANCHE had destroyed so many of his father's reactors. It had been an excuse to instill martial law. For him to finally take the wheel.

It was only later he became resentful. People feared _Sephiroth_, feared AVALANCHE, feared the strength of Cloud Strife – no matter how grateful they were to him. No one feared _ShinRa,_ feared _Rufus_.

They resented him, what he stood for. Resented his arrogance. Who was he to decide who were wolves and who were sheep?

Suddenly, not only was he not feared but even the quiet, content _respect_ of his father's regime no longer existed. _Safety _was no longer his, the future no longer sure.

For the first time in his life Rufus knew the fear of those who no longer hold ultimate power. To be a sheep.

Nothing could have been more intolerable, nothing more terrifying. So Rufus would grasp at any chance to reclaim his power, no matter what the risk. He would bandy words with Cloud Strife, knowing the man could split him and his bodyguards in two without effort.

He would hold on to even Jenova's head for power. Harnessing her would return him to his former glory, ultimate power would once again be his. Even if every other attempt had failed.

It was his last chance.

Even Rufus knew there would never be another supersoldier, the glory of Sephiroth and Cloud Strife destined to become the stuff of legend. Days never to return.

ShinRa's glory days. Gone. ShinRa itself? Scorned.

The ingratitude of those who it had made rich, those who owed ShinRa _everything_, infuriated Rufus. Even if it had been them who had made _him _something.

Even if Rufus had never been forced to rely wholly on himself, had always had someone else to lean on. To be his safety net.

Rufus had never truly been a wolf. He'd never stood on his own, never fought in the frontlines. Never had to choose between his dignity and his life.

Had always been able to stand a safe distance away, even in combat he had backup, a bodyguard, _safety._

Rufus ShinRa might not have been a wolf, but he _swore_ to himself that he would never be a _sheep._

_Never_.

As if he was still all-powerful. As if he had a choice.

A/N: Review. Its the only reason I post the damn things. So review. Please.


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